Crisis del Capitalismo Global o, Fin du Globe?

En este ensayo he intentado contribuir al fecundo debate sobre la crisis del capitalismo global. La tesis desarrollada se fundamenta en una sucesión de acontecimientos históricos, convergentes y orgánicamente dependientes. La crisis del capitalismo keynesiano de la Segunda Posguerra confluyó –y contribuyó a profundizar– con la crisis del desarrollismo en América Latina y en el continente africano. El auge de la contrarrevolución neoliberal liderada por Thatcher-Reagan, junto a sus discípulos europeos de la Tercera Vía, convergió con el derrumbamiento del Imperio Soviético y el extraordinario ascenso de la China posmaoísta. Durante la era de Deng Xiaoping iniciada en 1978, en el país asiático se desarrolló un capitalismo de Estado que dos décadas después, bajo un control políticamente comunista, se había transformado en un régimen socialista con características chinas y afinidades neoliberales. Las consecuencias de este nuevo orden mundial se analizan en la segunda parte del ensayo como problemas centrales del siglo XXI: la desigualdad existencial global de una ciudadanía sometida por la lógica del capital ficticio a una implacable servidumbre por deudas; la erosión de la política pública; la explotación laboral expresada simultáneamente en las economías posindustriales y en el Sur global a través de la destrucción no tan creativa de las cadenas de valor y otras formas vinculadas a la expansión de la gig economy y al tecnoutopismo del silicio; así como la alteración antropogénica de la biodiversidad terrestre sin precedentes en el registro histórico. In this essay I have tried to contribute to the fruitful debate on the crisis of global capitalism. The thesis developed is based on a succession of historical, convergent and organically dependent events. The crisis of Keynesian capitalism of the second postwar period converged –and contributed to deepen– with the crisis of developmentalism in Latin America and on the African continent. The rise of the neoliberal counterrevolution led by Thatcher-Reagan, along with her European Third Way disciples, converged with the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the extraordinary rise of post-Maoist China. During the Deng Xiaoping era, which began in 1978, a state capitalism developed in the Asian country that two decades later, under politically communist control, had been transformed into a socialist regime with Chinese characteristics and neoliberal affinities. The consequences of this new world order are analyzed in the second part of the essay as central problems of the 21th century: the global existential inequality of a citizenry subjected by the logic of fictitious capital to implacable debt bondage; the erosion of public policy; labor exploitation expressed simultaneously in post-industrial economies and in the global South through the not so creative destruction of value chains and other forms linked to the expansion of the gig economy and silicon techno-utopianism; as well as the anthropogenic alteration, without historical precedent, of terrestrial biodiversity.

Political and socio-Economic Modernization of Modern China: The Dynamics of Ideological and Worldview Accents

The article describes the history of the development of the economy and socio-political relations within the People’s Republic of China during the “reforms and opening up” since December 1978 The article gives a history of the progress of reforms before Xi Jinping came to power The paper examines each leader’s contribution from four generations of the country’s leaders in solving the problems of implementing economic and political reforms The author of the article describes the methods used by the leaders of the Celestial Empire to modernise the country to improve the wellbeing of the population and build “socialism with Chinese characteristic” The article provides a brief description of the achievements and failures in the process of leading the country by Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao.

CHINA�S DEBT TRAP PADA BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI) MELALUI MODEL TRIBUTARY SYSTEM ALA DINASTI MING-QING DALAM PEMBANGUNAN INFRASTRUKTUR DI TIMOR LESTE

Sejak reformasi China yang dilakukan oleh Deng Xiaoping pada tahun 1978 dan dilanjutkan oleh Xi Jinping yang lebih aktif pada tahun 2013, dengan membentuk jalur ekonomi sutra baru Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) dengan tujuan menciptakan kerjasama dan interdependensi serta harmoni pada tatanan kawasan Asia-Pasifik dan Global. Landasan BRI ini adalah salah satu bentuk romantisasi sejarah pada masa dinasti Han dengan jalur ekonomi sutra lama. Akan Tetapi kepentingan BRI terhadap negara-negara partner menjadi ancaman tersendiri dengan adanya �Debt trap� atau jebakan Utang yang dilakukan oleh China alih-alih bantuan infrastuktur. Sehigga BRI adalah salah satu model �Tributary system� gaya baru ala Dinasti Ming-Qing yang dimana jebakan utang adalah salah satu pengabdian diri pada China sebagai negara inti. Hasil analisis menjelaskan bahwa pengaruh terhadap Timor Leste menjadi ancaman dengan meningkatnya utang sebesar 13 persen pada tahun 2016, namun dibantah oleh Timor Leste dan China sendiri yang dimana jebakan utang adalah konstruksi subjektivitas dari kekhawatiran AS dan sekutu terhadap dominasi China.

From Maoism to Market Leninism

Initiated by Deng Xiaoping, China embarked on a path of transforming—marketizing and privatizing—the economy and opening it to competition and opportunity within the capitalist global economy. With this policy followed and deepened by two successors, the result was a Chinese economic miracle of historic proportions.

From Power Balance to Dominant Faction in Xi Jinping's China

Many China watchers argue that Xi Jinping has concentrated power in his own hands in a manner unprecedented since the death of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. This article tests the extent of Xi's power consolidation by comparing the strength of his faction during his time in power to similar periods under his two immediate predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Furthermore, we investigate whether a dominant faction is emerging under Xi Jinping, replacing the power balancing between factions that was the norm throughout the reform era. Analysing factional affiliations of Chinese leaders in the top four ranks, we find that Xi has formed a dominant faction. Through statistical analysis of the promotion chances of provincial leaders, we find that Xi has been unusually successful when compared to previous leaders at promoting his clients. This suggests that Xi has boosted the power of his faction by elevating provincial leaders to an extent not seen since the death of Mao and Deng.

Selective Integration

After Henry Kissinger’s secret visit in 1971, China claimed its seat at the United Nations and set about learning how to deal with global institutions. The country’s entrance into the organization was eye-opening for Chinese diplomats and also began a process of international integration that would see Beijing establish ties with virtually every other country in the world. Still, China’s international integration was slowed by continuing political uncertainty at home, which was settled only after the death of Mao, the fall of the Gang of Four, and the eventual ascendancy of Deng Xiaoping.

Economics and politics of the great change: Mikhail Gorbachev versus Deng Xiaoping

In the history of mankind, there has never been a case where, in a brief episode of the life of one generation, mutual economic relations have changed on such a large scale for so many people as they did in China and Russia in 1989-2020. Both countries are undergoing profound structural and institutional changes, but while the former recorded impressive results in terms of developing and catching up with advanced economies, the latter’s achievements have been very modest. While China has multiplied production to become a world economic power, Russia's economy has grown modestly and plays a minor role in the globalization process. In just a few years, the level of production and the standard of living of the Chinese population will first equalize and then exceed the level achieved by Russia. This happened due to many factors – from the traditional cultural heritage to geopolitical conditions, from the legacy from the previous state socialism to different natural resources bases – however, the nature and duration of the political leadership of Deng Xiaoping in China and Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia were of fundamental importance. Without taking into account the influence of the thoughts and actions of these two statesmen, it is impossible to understand the essence of tectonic changes that have occurred in the world economy recently. While Deng Xiaoping prioritized pro-growth-oriented economic reforms, while doing little in the realm of political liberalization, Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to combine political and economic liberalization, but failed to do so. The effects of decisions made several decades ago are still felt today. Evidently, Deng Xiaoping's approach proved to be more effective than Gorbachev's reforms. In the latter case, they took Russia and other post-Soviet republics in a completely different direction than that assumed by their architect.

Economics and Politics of the Great Change: Mikhail Gorbachev versus Deng Xiaoping

In the history of mankind, there has never been a case where, in a brief episode of the life of one generation, mutual economic relations have changed on such a large scale for so many people as they did in China and Russia in 1989-2020. Both countries are undergoing profound structural and institutional changes, but while the former recorded impressive results in terms of developing and catching up with advanced economies, the latter’s achievements have been very modest. This happened due to many factors – from the traditional cultural heritage to geopolitical conditions, from the legacy from the previous state socialism to different natural resources bases – however, the nature and duration of the political leadership of Deng Xiaoping in China and Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia were of fundamental importance. Without taking into account the influence of the thoughts and actions of these two statesmen, it is impossible to understand the essence of tectonic changes that have occurred in the world economy recently.